'Smiling, happy, and well-fed': Taste of Edmonton festival to exceed 2019 attendance
Taste of Edmonton organizers and vendors celebrated the last day of the annual festival with high spirits.
Donovon Vienneau, Taste of Edmonton general manager, said the festival had a strong showing with attendance expected to be higher than in 2019 – the last time the festival was celebrated before pandemic cancellations. The festival saw 250,000 people attend in 2019.
According to Vienneau, the festival will beat those numbers this year after attendance from Sunday is included in the tally.
“Lots of great energy around,” he said. “Seeing smiling, happy, and well-fed Edmontonians coming to Taste of Edmonton was absolutely spectacular.”
Vienneau said this year was one of the driest festivals in recent memory – only six hours of rain happened throughout the event.
“It’s been a lot of years since we’ve had a dry Taste of Edmonton.”
He added that while the festival has been running for 37 years, the COVID-19 pandemic presented new challenges never faced before.
“We endured and got through it,” Vienneau said. “We are happy Edmontonians came out in droves.
“We’ve got a lot of takeaways that we are going to take from this year and still have in 2022 and beyond.”
More than 1,000 volunteers helped bring the event to fruition this year. Vienneau said the event team is already planning for next year’s event.
“We look forward to seeing everybody back on July 21 to 31, 2022.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.